


Flash Of Memory

by TheWritingFox



Series: The Sparky Chronicles [2]
Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27013648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWritingFox/pseuds/TheWritingFox
Summary: Sparky recovers an electrifying memory.
Series: The Sparky Chronicles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972690
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9





	Flash Of Memory

The raindrops pitter patter against the window Sparky was peering out of. Rain wasn't very common in San Diego, but the occasional shower was normal. A curious feeling fires through her head, a sudden urge to go out in the weather. Blinking in confusion, she exits the Manor and stands out on the front lawn, gazing upward. The drops make a fun plinking sound on her exposed copper arms and face, she giggles and turns a small circle in the rain. The drops begin to soak through Sparky's t-shirt and pants, her sneakers squeaking in the damp grass. She doesn't care until a brief rumble of thunder interrupts her giggling.

Freezing in place, Sparky feels a nudge somewhere in her memory bank. She quirks a brow. Thunder rumbles louder and a bit closer this time, startling her a little as she tries to recover whatever memory was surfacing in her mind. Her circuits and fuses heat up from the effort and soon the raindrops steam up when they hit her. The next loud clap of thunder is followed by a streak lightning. Sparky, being the most conductive source of metal on the lawn, is struck by the lightning. Pure, unbridled electrical current runs through Sparky's body, overloading her circuits.

The memory resurfaces suddenly, as easy as plucking a daisy. 

⚡⚡⚡⚡

Blue eyes open, she comes back online, blinking as she looks around at the new location. It seems to be a warehouse, now full of her creator's inventions. Metal structures shaped like towers funnel electricity towards the center of the warehouse.

"Ah Malisa, I see you're operating fine after such a long trip", an accented male voice says to her. 

Turning around at the fond name she was given meaning "Little One", she finds the source of the voice, a tall moustached man she knows as her creator. She called him "Otac", father. He kneels down to her height to unplug a cord from her back easier. 

"Where are we now, Otac?", she asks as he unplugs her from a battery of his own invention.

"A place called Colorado. I think I'm close this time, Malisa I can feel it", her creator answers and stands back up. "Watch this", he says and walks over to a switch near the strange towers. 

She can see how tired he looks, he's been so absorbed by his work lately. He flicks the switch and electricity crackles in the air. Lightning bounces among the towers set up in the warehouse. The little robot watches in amazement as the current dances. He turns the switch back off, 

"It's still not right", he mutters with a frown, "this still won't impress them". 

The small robot tilts her head and approaches him, wrapping an arm around his waist in a hug. "I think it's amazing." 

The inventor smiles softly at her. "Of course you would, Malisa." He pats her on the head as she beams up at him. "For the record, I think you are my greatest achievement".

The memory begins to break up around her, the edges of her vision growing fuzzy and dark as she returns to the present.

⚡⚡⚡⚡

The lightning strike is over in a matter of seconds, the rainclouds now only releasing a mild drizzle, leaving Sparky disorientated as she comes back to the present. Who was that in her memory? What happened? If the creator thought so highly of her, why was she abandoned? 

So many questions flood Sparky's head as she stumbles back through the front door of Walter Manor. She could feel static electricity in her hair snap as she runs her hand through it. Her clothes were burned in places from the lightning, she was smoking from her ears and sparking every so often. Her circuits were running overtime from the resurfaced memory, making any left over rain water on her body steam off from the heat.

Why was it suddenly so hot in the Manor? Was Rabbit trying to cook for the Walter Workers again? Sparky hazily wonders, and shakes her head as more sparks fly from her ears. She turns down a hallway and jerks to a halt as her legs lock up half way down. She notices excess electricity sparking between her fingers when she looks down at her hands. She senses movement in the hallway ahead of her and looks up, a large silhouette is walking towards her. 

"Oh, hey Sparky!" A warm voice greets her. Focusing her bleary vision, Zer0 comes into view in front of her. "You, you don't really look so good little buddy, you ok?", he inquires, concerned.

"I...I don't think so...can't move" Sparky replies, her voice warped as her body shakes from the overload of electricity coursing through her.

As she tries to focus on Zer0, his image morphs haphazardly into strange shapes before her eyes. She whimpers and closes her eyes, willing everything to go back to normal. Sparks fly from her ears at an alarming rate.

Zer0 wisely takes a step back to avoid being shocked. "Oh, oh! I should get somebody! GUYS! GUYS WE NEED SOME HELP!" His voice retreats from her quickly as he runs to find help, leaving Sparky in the hallway. 

Her legs give out and she lands hard on her knees, she can feel a hot liquid leak from her eyes, trail down her cheek and plop onto her lap. The days recent events all replay in her head, overwhelming and confusing her as she continues to shake and spark. "H-help....Rabbit, s-someone..." Her voice crackles as she whimpers fearfully before blackness washes over her and she shuts down.

Zer0 had found help in the form of Walter Worker Chelsea, along with The Spine and Rabbit. Sparky's little body was still overheated and very hot to human touch when they found her, so the bots helped move her to the walk in freezer in Walter Manor's kitchen, with the hopes of cooling her down enough for the Walter Worker to help her while wearing thick gloves. They devised a way to drain away the excess electricity from Sparky, aside from letting her spark it out and potentially damage herself. They hooked her up to an empty car battery and a full one. One to siphon out the excess power and the other to slowly replenish her on a drip feed of electricity.

Slowly, Sparky comes back online, her body was steaming gently in the chilly air of the freezer. She's now in a standing position, slumped forward at the waist. She blinks without moving her head, she could sense others in the room around her. Rabbit was pacing in front of her. The Spine was talking in a hushed tone behind her to the Walter Worker monitoring the car batteries and the open control panel on Sparky's back.

"W-wh-when do ya think she'll r-re-reboot?", Rabbit asks worriedly as she momentarily stops her pacing and peers over the shoulder of the Walter Worker.

"Only time will tell," Chelsea replies. "Since we still don't know much about how she was built, hopefully she'll come around. Her circuits seem to be intact, with no visible damage and no blown fuses, so that's good."

Rabbit paused. "I'm sure she'll pull through, Rabbit" The Spine says to comfort his sister after a moment of silence. Sparky could hear Rabbit then resume her pacing.

With an effort, Sparky straightens up and looks around, seeing Zer0 peering cautiously through the doorway of the freezer. He gasps and points at Sparky, "Guys! Look!" Rabbit was too preoccupied pacing to initially notice, but at Zer0's remark she turns and sees Sparky blinking at her. 

"Hi everyone", Sparky says softly. Before she could continue, Rabbit rushed forward and wrapped the little robot in a hug, lifting her off the floor in the process, but was mindful of the wires still plugged into her back. 

"Sparky!" Rabbit exclaims in relief and sets Sparky back down. "D-do-don't ever scare m-me like th-that again, young lady", she gently scolds with a smile, hands on her hips. 

"You gave all of us quite a suprise", The Spine says as he stands next to Rabbit, "what happened?", he asks gently, tilting his head.

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to scare anyone." Sparky replies, voice trembling slightly, "It was raining, and , and, I went outside, and..." she stumbles over her words, it was hard to articulate the experience, her mind kept jumping around. She lets out a frustrated sigh, "I'm sorry", she says again and hangs her head. 

Rabbit gently ruffles the little robot's hair, "It's ok, take y-yo-your time."

After taking a little while to compose herself, Sparky finally relays her experience to the others. "...and then Zer0 found me", she concludes. The others listen and nod, not sure what to say. "Why would my creator abandon me if he liked me that much?" Sparky asks sadly. 

"I don't kno-know", Rabbit replies sadly with a shrug, "he sure was a j-jerk if that's w-wh-what he did, pardon my French". 

The Spine perks a brow, "I'm pretty sure that wasn't French, Rabbit", he shakes his head then adds, "you don't have to worry about being abandoned ever again Sparky. Walter Manor is your home now", he smiles. 

"Yeah! You're our family now!" Zer0 pipes up.

The Walter Worker unplugs Sparky from the battery siphoning off the extra power. "Alright, looks like you should be ok. But you need to stay plugged into the other battery for a while to recharge yourself", the Worker says to Sparky. " you may feel really sluggish, so I wouldn't recommend doing any strenuous activities until you feel fully charged, ok?" 

Sparky nods. The Worker rests a hand lightly on the little robots arm, checking her temperature. "Good, feels like you aren't overheating anymore", she smiles then turns to the other robots, " she should be fine to move out of here, just don't let her run around, ok? Let me know if she has any more problems", she adds and turns to leave the freezer.

"Alrighty, will do. Thanks for your help", The Spine replies and tips his hat to the Worker as she leaves. 

"Thank y-yo-you!" Rabbit calls out after her. "I have an idea!", she says and turns back to Sparky, "Let's get you to my r-ro-room and we can try on some of hats! Would you like that, kid-kiddo?" 

Sparky nods happily and tries to take a step forward. It was like she was moving through molasses, her leg seemed to be weighed down. She moves one step, feeling her energy drain as she does. 

"W-we-we're gonna be here for-forever if we keep this pace up", Rabbit laughs, "Tell ya wh-what, you keep charging up and I'll g-give ya a piggy back ride upstairs. Spine? Could you grab her battery, please?", she asks, helping Sparky onto her back.

"Sure", he replies, easily picking up the battery with one hand and following behind Rabbit, keeping the wire slack. 

"Rabbit, Rabbit, could I try on hats too? I really like that big one", Zer0 asks. 

"Sure! The m-mo-more the m-m-merrrier"

"I really like The Spine's hat. It's the best", Sparky hums tiredly and rests her head on top of Rabbit's hair. She could slowly feel herself recharging thanks to the battery. 

Something is then put on her head unexpectedly, and she perks up. Sparky reaches with one hand to find The Spine's fedora on her head. It was too big for her, as it slid down into her eyes more than once before The Spine straightened it for her with his free hand. 

"There. It suits you," he says with a smile. 

"Aww, thanks The Spine!" Sparky giggles.

For the rest of the afternoon, the bots all take turns trying on the numerous hats in Rabbit's collection. The Spine even allowed Sparky to place a large red bow on his head while she wore his fedora for a while.

Whether Sparky will uncover the secrets of her past or not, she takes comfort in the fact she will always have a home with her new family at Walter Manor.


End file.
